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Of events, some are in our hands, others are not. Those then are in
our hands which we are free to do or not to do at our will, that is all
actions that are done voluntarily (for those actions are not called
voluntary the doing of which is not in our hands), and in a word, all
that are followed by blame or praise and depend on motive and law.
Strictly all mental and deliberative acts are in our hands. Now
deliberation is concerned with equal possibilities: and an 'equal
possibility' is an action that is itself within our power and its
opposite, and our mind makes choice of the alternatives, and this is
the origin of action. The actions, therefore, that are in our hands
are these equal possibilities: e.g. to be moved or not to be moved,
to hasten or not to hasten, to long for unnecessaries or not to do so,
to tell lies or not to tell lies, to give or not to give, to rejoice
or not to rejoice as fits the occasion, and all such actions as imply
virtue or vice in their performance, for we are free to do or not to do
these at our pleasure. Amongst equal possibilities also are included
the arts, for we have it in our power to cultivate these or not as we
please.
Note, however, that while the choice of what is to be done is ever in
our power, the action itself often is prevented by some dispensation of
the divine Providence.
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